Lesson 2: Great Steaks on the Grill

Lesson 2: Great Steaks on the Grill

Whether you're already an accomplished griller or just a novice, grilling cookbook author Fred Thompson will turn you into a grill master in ten short episodes.

A steak is one of the simplest things to grill, and it's a good way to learn how to use your grill's heat. In this episode, you'll learn how to choose the best steaks for grilling, how to give them a good initial sear, and how to tell when they're done perfectly. To practice all these points, we'll make a grilled New York Strip Steak with Blue Cheese Butter.

Step One: Prep Your Steaks and GrillTake your steaks from the fridge about 30 to 40 minutes before cooking and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Starting with room-temperature steaks gives you better control over their doneness. For tender steaks like rib-eye and strip steak, you want to choose steaks about 1-1/2 inches thick. When you're ready to cook, make sure the steak is completely dry, then brush it with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat your grill with all burners set on high and the lid closed for 10 to 12 minutes.

Step Two: Cook the SteaksPlace the steaks on the grill, at a 45-degree angle to the grill grates. Close the lid.

After about 1-1/2 minutes, the steaks should release easily from the grates. Pick up each steak and rotate it 90 degrees, so the grill grates now run at 45 degrees in the opposite direction. This is how you create those neat, restaurant-style crosshatch grill marks on your steak.

After the steaks have cooked about 4 to 5 minutes on the first side, they're ready to turn. There's no need to do cross-hatch marks on the second side, because it will face down on the plate. Close the lid and continue to cook to your preferred doneness.

Step Three: How to Judge DonenessThere are two ways to judge doneness--one is with an instant-read thermometer, inserted into the center of the steak (see chart for temperatures).

But touch is the method most chefs determine doneness, at least for steaks. To start learning what each stage feels like, your face is a handy guide: